In machine-to-machine applications, some machine-type communication (MTC) clients could belong to the same MTC user or server as known from 3GPP TS 22.368 “Service Requirements for Machine-Type Communications”. One requirement from the operator and the network is that some common quality of service (QoS) parameters could be applied onto users that belong to the same group. By way of example all users of the same group should not exceed a maximum bit rate. This mechanism is not only used for machine-to-machine services, but can also be used for normal services. By way of example for a company which has multiple subscribers, the common quality of service parameter is also meaningful. In an evolved packet system (EPS) the bearer is the central element of a quality of service concept (see also 3GPP TS 23.401, “General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Enhancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN Access)”). An EPS bearer uniquely identifies packet flows that receive a common quality of service treatment between the terminal and the gateway. Two types of bearers are defined in EPS: guaranteed bit rate (GBR) bearers and non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR) bearers. On a GBR bearer a certain bandwidth is reserved and remains available as long as the bearer exists. The maximum bit rates MBR and GBR are defined only for GBR bearers. These parameters define the MBR that is the bit rate that the traffic on the bearer may not exceed and the GBR corresponding to the bit rate that the network guarantees. It can sustain for that bearer, e.g. through the use of an admission control function. For non-GBR bearers an aggregated maximum bit rate (AMBR) is defined to limit the total amount of bit rate consumed by a single subscriber. It is not defined per bearer, but rather per group of non-GBR bearers. Two AMBR parameters are defined in 3GPP, APN AMBR and UE AMBR. Both of the AMBRs are defined for an aggregation of non-GBR bearers.
As described above, in the 3GPP environment, the quality of service control is designed per bearer or per subscriber, but not designed for a group containing multiple mobile entities or member devices. The quality of service parameters defined in 3GPP includes QCI (quality of service class identifier), ARP (allocation and retention priority), MBR (maximum bit rate), and APN-AMBR (aggregated maximum bit rate per access point name). All these parameters are defined within a mobile entity's scope. It is not possible to control the quality of service for a group containing multiple members.
Accordingly, a need exists to provide a possibility to enforce a common quality of service parameter, such as the maximum bit rate for the data sent/received by a group of mobile entities.